I’ve just finished reading Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas, and if you are at all interested in the world of fashion and the drastic changes it’s undergone, you should definitely pick it up!

Luxury used to mean the best money could buy. Luxury products were expensive and totally out of reach for most people, but they carried with them a tradition of exquisite craftsmanship, perfect presentation, and an unrivaled experience of service. Some of the large luxury companies still stand by these principles (she shows how Chanel and Hermes, for example, still go above and beyond in the pursuit of quality).

{images above: women in Dior in the 1940s/50s via sacheverelle}

But most luxury brands have changed dramatically. The businessmen at the helm have realized that they can make a killing by focusing on marketing “entry level” products to the middle market. That means handbags, sunglasses, perfume, cosmetics… the things a middle income person could afford to splurge on to get a taste of that fancy brand. Meanwhile, the quality has plummeted and most products are secretly produced in Chinese factories (while being stamped “made in Italy”). Some of these factories are sweat shops. Some employ child labor. The companies make a lot of profit.

{image above: Louis Vuitton ad}

Luxury brands used to be owned and run by designers. For the most part, they are now part of giant conglomerates and totally focused on the bottom line. Designers are almost expendable, and the clothes are in some part just a vehicle to sell the brand and thereby sell more handbags. Couture clothing has only gotten less attainable, because it’s not meant to be sold to many people. Instead, we get “fast fashion” versions of the designs. I was fascinated to learn this tidbit:

“More than two hundred thousand women worldwide wore couture in the 1950s. It was an expected part of a bourgeois woman’s everyday life. Today, in comparison, a mere two hundred women worldwide buy haute couture.”

So this left me with a question: What is luxury now, to you and I? Are there still real luxuries available to normal people? Is sewing one of those luxuries?

Personally, I would like to think that I appreciate craftsmanship, detail, and quality. I like things that last a good long time and look beautiful. Sewing is one of the few ways I have to attain that. Of course, there are other reasons I sew, but I do like being able to create a perfectly tailored silk dress in my own home.

But I don’t think it’s the only answer. One of the interesting points she makes is that there are small businesses who are able to stay small and, because of their scale, maintain that attention to quality. Louboutin is a wonderful example of a very small company run by the designer who has managed to stay small, make amazing products, refrain from even advertising, and not sell out. I liked almost everything he has to say:

“Luxury is the possibility to stay close to your customers, and do things that you know they will love. It’s about subtlety and details. It’s about service [...] Luxury is not consumerism. It is educating the eyes to see that special quality.” -Louboutin

This could be a mantra for my own business, in a way. But I think there are other, even smaller artist-run companies like Louboutin, carrying the flag for quality and originality, not merely reaching for money and growth. I can think of some in my own community, in fact.

What do you think? Is luxury a farce? A marketing gimmick? Do you think it’s different than it was 60 years ago? Does it mean something to you?

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{image above: sweet dolly pins}

Ok guys, I feel that my links have become embarrassingly outdated. A long while back, I just threw up some of my favorite links and haven’t had a chance to revise them or seek out new ones.

I think it’s important that we get to know our community of fellow sewers, so I’m putting a call out! I’d love it if you could comment and tell me a little about your sewing or crating related blog. Please write in your comments:

1. Your name (first name is fine, or if you prefer some other nickname or handle, that’s a-ok)
2. The name of your blog
3. The link to your blog
4. A short (140 characters or less) description of your blog

Your blog should have something to do with sewing or making, even if that’s not the primary focus. Please no links to non-blogs (etsy stores, etc).

I’m going to go through all the links you give me and add them to my blogroll, and I’m also planning to add a rotating “featured reader blog” spot that will have a link and the description of your blog.

To keep this manageable, I will keep this open for one week, so you have until Wednesday, March 10, then I will close comments. Thank you all, I can’t wait to check out your links!

{image above: courtesy of bhermans}

I was so fascinated by all the responses to the questions about learning to sew that came in last week! Natalie B asked me if I might summarize some of the discussion, so I’m going to take a stab at condensing some of your experiences into some helpful tips for the aspiring seamstress (or… seamster? Is there a gender neutral term for this?)

1. Beginnings can be frustrating! Some of the beginners mentioned that they really feel at a loss, and that their ideas and dreams really outpace their abilities. I think we all know how frustrating this is when you’re starting out. Katie made a wonderful observation related to this:
   

   “Also, with knitting you are forced to go slow at first… I found that when I started sewing on a machine I wanted to drive it like a car at 100 miles per hour . Not pacing yourself can lead to a lot of mistakes and frustration.”

   That is so true, isn’t it? We all want to get from point A to point B as fast as possible, especially when point A seems a bit of a dull wasteland of wrap skirts and potholders. But I worry that moving too quickly is what burns a lot of aspiring sewers out before their time. I think a good way for a beginner to approach this might be to look for simple projects that you can make with your own twist, like gorgeous trims or a fun printed fabric.

2. You need a solid foundation. Many of you agreed that the foundations of great sewing are careful planning, the right fabric, and taking the time to get a good fit. Unfortunately, these are the most tempting areas for a beginner to cut corners. I think the lesson here is again, to slow down and let yourself enjoy the most creative part of sewing: the planning!
3. A sewing community is a huge help. So many of you said that you learned to sew from mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. Others said they found that the most helpful thing was having an expert around to help when they got stuck. Still others pointed to blogs and sewing forums as the biggest help. But what they have in common is sharing knowledge with each other and finding help when you need it. Kate said:
   

   “I spend a lot of time reading blogs and reviewing online tutorials and books. Ideally, I would love to be a part of a sewing club or sewing circle in my city with women of all experience levels, so we can teach and mentor each other.”

   I agree, that would be an ideal way to learn and improve, no matter what level you’re at!

4. Sewing is about continuous learning. I think one of the reasons many of us are drawn to sewing is the fact that you can do so much with it. The possibilities are vast. The other side of that is the fact that there is a lot to learn. In many cases, it’s hard to even determine what you don’t know so that you can learn. I loved this comment from Nicole because I really feel that this is a common experience, even for those that have been sewing a while:
   

   “I still don’t really know how to sew “properly,” but I pick up techniques from reading people’s blogs, surfing the internet, trial and error, etc. Somebody talks about underlining something, and then I spend an hour surfing around to find out about underlining and think about all the places I should have used it in the past.”

   I think the key is to set your expectations accordingly. You’ll never be “perfect,” and you’ll always be learning, so embrace it and dive in with your curiosity.

Do you guys have anything to add? Any more lessons learned for the new sewer?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how and why people learn to sew.

I was discussing this with someone recently. She said that knitting really took off a few years ago, but it seems like sewing is still just on that verge of popularity. I think the reason for this is largely that knitting has a really low barrier to entry. You can literally learn just two stitches in an afternoon and make some pretty cool stuff without knowing much else.

Now, there is a lot you can learn about knitting: increasing/decreasing, lace knitting, color work, etc. But I feel like those skills are all really well defined with knitting. You can say to yourself, “I want to learn to do fair isle knitting,” pick out a pattern, look up some of the abundant resources online, and get started. By the end of the project, you know how to do fair isle.

But with sewing, it seems like it’s more difficult to even KNOW what skills you need. There are so many little tricks and ways of doing things that just come from experience. So it seems like a lot of people just learn to sew in a rather piecemeal way, by slowly figuring things out over time. It takes work and a real desire to figure things out.

So I was wondering, for you guys, how did you learn to sew? Did you have someone to help you? Did you just keep working on things on your own? Did you learn from a beginners book? A reference book?

What did you like about learning in the way you did? And what do you think is the best way to learn? Personally, I like to learn by doing projects.

I’m also curious about why you learned to sew. Was it to make cool stuff you couldn’t find in the stores? To address fitting issues with your body? To save money?

I’m very curious about your experience with this and hearing a little more about you guys and your sewing background! Do tell.

You may have seen my post here on this blog a few days ago which spoke about the Stash Bustin’ challenge I have set myself and others to work through our fabric mountains and avoid trips to the fabric store. Well the post received many lovely comments, including a couple calling for some kind of fabric swap. So I’ve been giving it some thought and think I’ve figured out a way an international online-based fabric swap could work. Initially it will run for one week starting Monday 22nd over at my personal blog, with a different piece of fabric up for grabs each day. People interested in the piece of fabric on offer must also have a piece they are willing to give away and send to another sewer. All the details of how it will run are here. If this initial week of fabric swapping goes well, I will host a regular fabric swap, helping the world’s sewers to redistribute their stashes!

So, do you have a piece of fabric lurking in your stash that is perfectly good but just isn’t sparking your imagination? Would you like to send it to a welcoming recipient and get sent a new (to you) piece of fabric that does give your creativity a buzz? Fancy giving and recieving potential-filled fabric without being responsible for the massive environmental damage that fabric production and treatment causes? Alright, then head over here from Monday and let gets this underway!

Are you guys taking the handmade pledge this year?

I must admit that most of what is on my list this year is not handmade goods, but that’s because they’re things like books and bicycle components. But I usually buy handmade or make things myself for the holidays, so I don’t feel too bad asking for bike fenders. Besides supporting small businesses, you get the coolest stuff from small artisans!

I’m doing the final push of gift shopping tonight on Etsy. What about you guys? Do you make an effort on this front?

WORN Journal is a fashion ‘zine unlike anything else on the market. It’s funny, smart, interesting and independent. Editor Serah-Marie McMahon, with the help of a small but dedicated staff, publishes WORN biannually. Past topics have included:

• Psychobilly subculture fashion
• The truth about drycleaning
• West African clothing
• How to start a fashion museum

WORN places an emphasis on personal style, not the latest trends from the fashion industry.

Without further ado, here to talk more about WORN is Hillary Predko. Hillary is an intern at WORN, a 19-year old student at the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) where she’s studying textiles, and a fan of Colette Patterns.

What is WORN Journal?
WORN Fashion Journal is an independent fashion magazine published out of Toronto twice a year. We strive to maintain editorial content that is interesting and presents a view of fashion that is often not presented. We aim to discuss clothing as a cultural product, as opposed to a product to be bought seasonally. We don’t have anything against other fashion magazines; we just want to create something different. Something where the content is not influenced by advertising dollars, and seasonal trends are not the be all and end all.

How is WORN financed?
WORN is an anomaly in the magazine publishing world because we finance the magazine by well, selling the magazine. Most magazines are paid for through advertising dollars, so selling through the print run is not important. We sell through 100% of our print run, so while being less wasteful we can also make the most money off the physical magazine. Since we don’t date our back issues, and the content is not time specific, we can continue selling our issues when other magazines would have ‘expired’.

How did you discover Worn?
I found WORN on one of my favourite blogs, Toronto Craft Alert (http://torontocraftalert.ca/). Needless to say I was very excited, and I applied to be an intern within a week.

What do you do as an intern at Worn?
As interns, we all take on different commitments. I work mainly on distribution, since WORN does not have a distributor. Right now we are pursuing about a hundred stores worldwide that we would like to carry the magazine. I also work to get us involved in craft and small press fairs. Interns at WORN generally get much cooler jobs than interns elsewhere. I have modeled, done research, sewed banners, and organized a tee-shirt print run. Since WORN is so small, there are always a lot of jobs to be done.

Tell us a little bit about how the magazine is put together.
The size of the staff fluctuates a bit, with old interns leaving, and new ones coming in, but WORN is put together by a group of about 15 volunteers. Our editor-in-pants, Serah-Marie kindly keeps us all in check, as we come and go from the office on different days. We all have other commitments, so the team can only meet all together twice a month: once for an editorial meeting and once for a general meeting. At these meetings, we make all the decisions we can about how to run the magazine, and what editorial to publish. We decide on tasks for everyone to do, and go our separate ways to get it done. It is all generally kept track of in Google docs. It could be argued WORN would fall apart without Google docs.

How would you describe your style?
In every issue, one of our editors writes a column called “Everything I know about Fashion I Learned from my Mother”. In the latest issue, she reflects on personal style and describes the style of some of her friends in hilariously succinct ways. Some examples include, “communist vampire bicycle courier with a dash of flapper ninja”, and “a member of the vintage craft brigade, with a militantly joyful streak”. Sorry to ramble, but what I’m getting at is that I’ve been trying to think of a cool cute term for my style for a while now, and I’m at a bit of a loss. Disheveled floral hipster in various shades of brown? Woodland vintage art school student? Dusty pastel cyrptozoologist? I’m still working on it, but I think you might get the idea.

What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion to me is a form as self-expression more than anything else. I had to wear a uniform all through middle school, and I think that experience really scarred me for life. I never want to give up my autonomy within the way I look. Beyond that, I think fashion is as fun as you make it. Some people get really stressed about getting dressed to go out, but I think you can look good no matter what you wear. I’m not very concerned with trends, I just like to dress cute.

How did you learn to sew? What do you sew?
I picked up various sewing skills from different people as I grew up. My dad first started teaching me to sew, then my grandma taught me to use commercial patterns. Since then I’ve had a few mentors who have taught me to serge, draft a bit, drape a bit and various things along the way.

I go to school for textiles, which involves less sewing than one would think. Since I started the program I’ve been really busy, so I’ve pretty much stopped sewing myself clothes for the time being. Lately I’ve been really into making pillows and curtains to decorate my apartment. Oh, and I made a killer Bjork swan dress this Halloween.

To purchase WORN, visit thehouseofworn.etsy.com. To learn more about WORN and to get involved, visit wornjournal.com

Lately, the internet seems to abound with personal long-term clothing experiments. You’ve probably heard of some of them, like The Uniform Project, or the many people (myself included) who have participated in Wardrobe Refashion.

But MakeShift is particularly amazing. In her own words:

“MakeShift is an art and research project that examines the relationships between ‘making’, ‘clothing’ and ‘living’. The basic premise for the project is that for a period of one year starting on September 1st, 2009, I will only wear things that I have made myself. Initially this may seem like a reasonable task, but it will include all of my clothes, socks, shoes, underwear, coats, jackets, hats, bathing suits, accessories and anything else I might need to protect my body from the elements while trying to lead a fulfilling life.”

Pretty intense and awesome.

Have you heard of Project 95? It’s a network of small shops dedicated to increasing awareness of local, independently run fabric stores.

According to their website, 95% percent of fabric shoppers purchase from chain stores. We all know that isn’t good for local small business, or for getting the specialized selection we might want, so it’s great that they’re teaming up to challenge that!

You can go to Project 95 to find a shop in your area, or add one.

{via Threads}

There’s a short little interview with me up at Wardrobe Refashion, where I was a former pledge in 2007/2008. I love Wardrobe Refashion, so it was really fun to visit again!

I’m also giving away a pattern, so click on over… all you have to do is comment there saying which pattern you like best for a chance to get it!